Football Association of Malawi (FAM) says it will honour Malawi Women’s Football National Team captain and Inter Milan striker Tabitha Chawinga for her achievements in the sport both at local and international levels.

The association’s decision comes after the Scorchers captain won the Serie A Femminile League Golden Boot with 23 goals, eight more than second-placed Cristiana Gireli from Juventus Ladies.

First African to win the Serie A Femminile League Golden Boot: Tabitha

The feat made her the first African player to win the accolade.

However, her team has failed to win the championship won by Roma with 67 points from 26 games while Inter Milan have finished on fifth position.

FAM president Walter Nyamilandu in an interview yesterday said Tabitha deserves a special recognition for her achievements.

He said: “Tabitha is making us proud for breaking such records. She is putting Malawi on the map. She is a trailblazer of professional football players in Malawi.

“She is in class of her own. She has proved that she can play anywhere in the world. She is doing wonders that most players in Malawi have failed to attain.

“She deserves an honorary award for such distinguished service to both club and country. She has proved that we can build talent that can qualify for the Women’s World Cup.”

Nyamilandu said they are planning to present the special award to Tabitha at the association’s annual general meeting (AGM) in June.

He said: “We will check on her availability. Ideally, it will be great to bestow her the award at the AGM in June.”

Nyamilandu said Tabitha had proved that Malawi has talented women’s football players.

However, he bemeaned lack of interest from the corporate world to sponsor women’s football.

He said: “Sponsorship apathy towards women’s football is the main challenge. We have come this far by single handedly sponsoring women’s football completions and development programmes with the support of Fifa funding. We can achieve more if we secured partners to invest in the game of women’s football.”

National Women’s Football Association president Adellaide Migogo said Tabitha deserved to be honoured.

“She is in her own class,” she said.

On her part, Tabitha said the Golden Boot is dedicated to the African girl child who faces a lot challenges in the sport.

She said: “It is time for Malawi, time for Africa, time for a rural girl-child. This Golden Boot is not only for me, it’s for the whole Africa.”

Tabitha started her international career at Swedish third-division club Krokom/Dvärsätts IF in 2014 where she also won the Golden Boot in her maiden season.

She then won the top flight Elitettan award in 2015 and 2017 after moving to to Kvarnsvedens IK.

In 2018 she moved to China where she won the Chinese Women’s SuperLeague with Jiangsu Suning in 2018, 2019 and 2021.

In 2021, she joined Wuhan Jiangda and was later loaned to Inter Milan Women.

The post  FAM to honour golden Tabitha first appeared on The Nation Online.